CityCyclingEdinburgh Forum » Debate!

Today's STAR Letter

(24 posts)
  • Started 14 years ago by LaidBack
  • Latest reply from recombodna

No tags yet.


  1. LaidBack
    Member

    I'll drop a letter in here from tonight's Evening News.

      Idiot' cyclists are needing protection
      THE problem of discourteous cyclists is not limited to the city and its suburbs. I travel daily to and from Livingston on the A8 and whilst cycleways have been recently constructed I have yet to see a cyclist use one.

      They prefer risking their own safety and the safety of other (insured) vehicles by cycling on the road during peak traffic times, darkness and even in times of limited visibility. Something really needs to be done to protect these idiots from themselves.
      Norrie Henderson, Meadowhouse Road, Edinburgh

    You see what happens when you build a cycleway! 'They insist on using the road. Meanwhile in town they use the pavement ;-)'
    Question: is the A8 path any safer than the road?
    UK cycleways never have priority at side roads so it will be slower with far more risks at junctions than moving with traffic. The fact that cars (should) give way to pedestrians crossing at junctions is not extended to cyclists on pavements converted to cycle paths (as it is in Scandinavia and Benelux). I came back along from Uphall on A8 a year ago and I felt safer on the road. Around 12-15mph on most UK paths is too rough too plus you have lamposts, bus shelters and debris from cars in the middle of them!

    Posted 14 years ago #

  2. Min
    Member

    They really should stop publishing the letters that are written in crayon.

    Posted 14 years ago #

  3. wee folding bike
    Member

    For more info on safety (or otherwise) on cycle paths you could have a look here:

    http://www.cyclecraft.co.uk/digest/research.html

    I rarely use them as they are slower, covered in glass and we have a right to the roads.

    I do use one on the Isle of Wight when I go to see my auntie but that's partly because I don't know another way to get there and partly because it is a very good path. I suppose I could just go round the coast from Cowes to Sandown but I know how to get there on the cycle path.

    Posted 14 years ago #

  4. SRD
    Moderator

    This guy obviously has a lot in common with the Zimbabwean riot police I encountered...

    Posted 14 years ago #

  5. gembo
    Member

    I have used the Livingston cycle paths in the past. I have never seen anyone else using them (pedestrians, or cyclists). The roads are safer, apart from the cars. The paths are indeed covered in glass, often dark and overgrown etc.

    Posted 14 years ago #

  6. recombodna
    Member

    Although we have a right to use the roads I rekon if there's a dedicated cyclepath seperate from the road ( in the case of the A8) then you should use it. I can't see how cycling on a busy road in rush hour at dusk is safer than the cycle path. And there's not that much glass on that path.

    Posted 14 years ago #

  7. Arellcat
    Moderator

    Recombodna, for balance you might be interested to read John Franklin's paper, Two decades of the Redways cycle paths in Milton Keynes, published in 1999.

    "From the traditional viewpoint, MK has the ultimate 'worst' and 'best' for cyclists. On the one hand is a high-speed grid road network, designed solely around the needs of motor vehicles and with large roundabouts at all principal junctions. On the other an extensive, purpose-built cycle path network, segregated for the greater part from fast traffic and constructed with few limitations of space or finance. If this is not the most perfect scenario for demonstrating how cycle facilities can remove the deterrents to cycling and achieve big gains in safety then what is?"

    Posted 14 years ago #

  8. Kim
    Member

    "They prefer risking their own safety and the safety of other (insured) vehicles by cycling on the road during peak traffic times" which other vehicles are they endangering and if these other vehicles are insured where is the problem? There is of course a simple solution to the problem of "protect[ing] these idiots", ban cars... LOL or at the very least require all drivers to have an understanding of the Highway Code.

    Posted 14 years ago #

  9. cb
    Member

    Seeing cyclists on the stretch of A8 beside the airport is fairly uncommon, with many more being seen on the cycle paths.
    Personally I don't think I'd enjoy cycling that bit of road, it is a 70 limit with lots of traffic coming from/going to the airport. Having said that, on the times I have seen cyclists on the road then cars usually seem to do quite a good job of passing safely.

    During the cold/snowy spell in December there were a lot more bikes on the road as obviously there was no effort made to grit / clear the cycle path.

    Posted 14 years ago #

  10. wee folding bike
    Member

    I thought that was a 40 mph zone. I was along there in June for an SQA markers meeting at the airport Hilton.

    Corstorphine McDonalds wouldn't serve me at the DriveThru because I didn't have a car. I just wanted a wee egg McMuffin.

    Posted 14 years ago #

  11. recombodna
    Member

    Yeah it's a 40 zone now. it used to be national speed limit. I lived in a cottage on that road for 5 years. I would quite often see cyclists on the road but I always used the cycle path and never had a puncture in 5 years!

    Posted 14 years ago #

  12. cb
    Member

    It's only 40mph at either end. From Ratho Station to just before RBS it's 70mph.

    Posted 14 years ago #

  13. Dave
    Member

    Simple solution, drop the limit and pop an average camera on. A tiny fraction of the cost of building a separate road network ;-)

    Posted 14 years ago #

  14. cb
    Member

    This seems to suggest that a 40mph limit is on the cards (see point 20). Have to confess I didn't read the doc in full.

    Posted 14 years ago #

  15. Kirst
    Member

    There's another letter today.

    Posted 14 years ago #

  16. SRD
    Moderator

    Brilliant!:

    Motorists' conduct is driving me mad
    ONCE again the Evening News has received letters from people complaining about cyclists.

    So once again, as a driver, cyclist and pedestrian I wonder, why aren't these people writing in to complain about the bad car drivers?

    On my many travels around the city it is painfully obvious where the real problem lies.

    There is not a single time I take to the roads or pavements that I don't see examples of bad drivers. Whether it be lack of indicating, speeding, jumping red lights, dangerous parking, tail-gating, using mobile phones, pulling out in front of others, swinging doors open without looking – it goes on and on every single time.

    Whilst there are indeed bad cyclists, it is a minuscule problem compared to bad drivers. Does it need to be pointed out that bad drivers are responsible for many deaths and injuries every year? Why don't the letter-writers complain about this? It's a far greater problem after all. It makes them seem like petty individuals.
    Mick Geggus, Dundas Street, Edinburgh

    Posted 14 years ago #

  17. Arellcat
    Moderator

    I'm quite impressed. The EEN normally edits out anti-motorist text in letters they print, but is invariably happy to publish anti-cyclist statements.

    Posted 14 years ago #

  18. recombodna
    Member

    Mick Geggus is a legend!

    Posted 14 years ago #

  19. LaidBack
    Member

    The EEN normally edits out anti-motorist text in letters they print,

    Yes - must be a sub-editing mistake. Arnold Clark will now cancel a page of advertising to remind them to keep 'on topic'...

    Posted 14 years ago #

  20. Kim
    Member

    LOL

    Posted 14 years ago #

  21. gembo
    Member

    Arnold Clark has gone from Chesser.

    I had a car overtake me today to then immediately turn left and cut me up and the driver realised what he/she had done and stopped in the middle of the road. A new category of bad but also considerate driving

    Posted 14 years ago #

  22. recombodna
    Member

    I had a cyclist turn right across my lane the other night on lothian road. He just about took me out of the game. Gandalf I think they used to call him. He's been cycling round Edinburgh as long as I can remember. Just show's we all make mistakes now and again.

    Posted 14 years ago #

  23. gembo
    Member

    was he en route to the Tollcross State Circus? Juggler to trade? They used to come in to the INternational Bar on a Monday night after circus practice. Most welcome as customers in short supply and heating turned down low. I was once offered counterfeit mince by aged customer in the IB.

    Posted 14 years ago #

  24. recombodna
    Member

    Ha ha !! Counterfeit mince??

    Posted 14 years ago #

RSS feed for this topic

Reply

You must log in to post.


Video embedded using Easy Video Embed plugin